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The Boston Bruins, with over $20 million in cap space, are looking to make a big splash in free agency.
There’s no shortage of names out there, either. One of those names is an old friend, too, as
Milan Lucic was unable to come to a new deal with the Los Angeles Kings and will be an unrestricted free agent for the first time in his career. The 6-foot-4 winger has already met with the Vancouver Canucks, and is expected to meet with the Edmonton Oilers today, so the courting process has already begun. And after a solid 20-goal, 55-point year with the Kings, the process should continue with more visits.
But is there a possibility for the Bruins to legitimately consider a reunion with No. 17? Such an idea
was floated out there by Bruins general manager
Don Sweeney in a way. When asked about the club’s free agency plans, Sweeney said it was possible that the Bruins may revisit Lucic.
That’s something the club doesn’t need to do.
When the Bruins decided to move on from Lucic, the trade was made from a cap flexibility standpoint. Lucic, in the last year of a deal that came with a $6 million cap-hit, was not going to get a pay decrease on his next deal in Boston. The belief was that Lucic could have been a $7 million a year player in the Hub, and though that price has come down after a solid-but-not-revolutionary season in Los Angeles, the Bruins have already filled the need for what Lucic brings to the table with a more affordable option.
Although he has not produced at the same pace Lucic did throughout his Bruins career (Lucic averaged .60 points per game during his eight-year run with the B’s),
Matt Beleskey has provided that hard-nosed, physical style on the left-wing as a solid power-forward option. And he’s done it for less than $4 million per season (Beleskey counts against the Boston cap for just $3.9 million per year).
Add Lucic to the mix at anywhere from $5.5 to $6.5 million per season -- and even throw the big-bodied
Jimmy Hayes into that equation -- and you have three players with the same skill-set.
Similar to how most seem to feel about having
Adam McQuaid and
Kevan Miller on the roster at the same time (and this is where
Dennis Seidenberg plays the role of Hayes as a similar talent), the Black and Gold do not need Lucic when they have Beleskey. It would be redundant.
But it goes beyond Beleskey, too. In fact, the Bruins are straight-up loaded on that left side. You have
Brad Marchand on the top line with
Patrice Bergeron, Beleskey, and then there’s
Frank Vatrano, fresh off one of the strongest first-year pro seasons between the AHL, NHL< and international play with Team USA at this spring’s World Championships. You don’t need Lucic.
Not unless he wants to play the right wing.
And even then, hasn’t that ship sailed?
Again, the Lucic trade felt 80% cap-motivated, and the 20% felt like it was just a desire to move on towards a new identity. That identity has taken some shape, at least you’d like to think so, with the introduction of guys like Vatrano into the NHL mix and guys like
Ryan Spooner absorbing larger roles.
Austin Czarnik -- another small, skill-based talent -- is knocking at the door, too.
And plugging the 6-foot-4 Lucic back in front of that door, while nostalgic, would be a step back.
Podcast to be Named Later with Andy Merritt and Ty Anderson
In this episode, we talk about the draft, free agency, and yes, Steven Stamkos to the Bruins.
Ty Anderson has been covering the National Hockey League for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, has been a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter since 2013, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com.
Boston Bruins Blogger •Bruins Feature Columnist • 
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